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First Case of Ebola in U.S. Is Confirmed

CDC Director Says 'Handful' of People May Have Been Exposed to Dallas Patient

Health officials diagnosed the first case of Ebola in the United States on Tuesday, bringing a disease that has killed more than 3,000 people this year in West Africa to the middle of America. (Photo: AP)

The patient, who officials declined to name but referred to as "he," arrived in Texas from Liberia 10 days ago to visit family, developed symptoms of the disease on Sept. 24 and was admitted to an isolation unit at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas four days later, health officials said.

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Confirmation of the individual's illness was made by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Texas Department of State Health Services on Tuesday. Officials have now launched an intensive medical and public-health effort both to treat the sick individual and to identify and monitor those people who he may have exposed to the disease in the four days between when he first developed symptoms and when he was placed into hospital isolation.

The patient isn't the first to be treated for Ebola in the U.S. But he is the first to have become ill here, raising concerns that others may get sick, too, and spark an outbreak. Four other Ebola patients have been treated for the disease in the U.S. during the past two months, but all were evacuated from West Africa and transferred immediately to hospital isolation units as soon as they arrived. (Read more on how the Ebola crisis unfolded in Africa.)

The CDC confirmed the first U.S. case of Ebola in Texas on Tuesday. During a press briefing, Director Tom Frieden said he has 'no doubt' that the case of the virus will be controlled. Photo/Video: CDC

Tom Frieden,
director of the CDC, said the number of people exposed is small. " 'Handful' is the right characterization," he said, including family members as well as "one, two or three" others. He said, however, that authorities would cast a wide net to make sure they didn't miss anyone. He said anyone health officials determined may have been exposed would be monitored for 21 days.

Dr. Frieden said that it is possible the patient infected others and they may get sick, but the risk of an outbreak here is low. He said strong infection control and public-health measures in the U.S. prevent outbreaks from getting out of control as Ebola has in West Africa. "I have no doubt we will control this case of Ebola so that it does not spread widely," he said.

"It's possible that someone who had contact with this individual could develop Ebola in the coming weeks," he said, adding, "There is no doubt in my mind we will stop it here."

Ebola is a viral disease that is spread through contact with bodily fluids. It doesn't spread through the air, and people who are infected don't spread the disease until they have symptoms, Dr. Frieden said. People who are infected may get ill anywhere from two to 21 days after their exposure.

Those who traveled on the same flight with the patient aren't at risk, he said. The patient didn't have symptoms at that point. "He was checked for fever before getting on the flight," he said.

He declined to name the patient's flight route, saying only that he departed from Liberia on Sept. 19 and arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 20. "We will identify any context where we think there is a risk of transmission," he said.

Edward Goodman, the hospital's epidemiologist, said the patient was communicating and was hungry. He declined to give any additional details about the patient's condition.

Dr. Frieden briefed President
Barack Obama
on the case, the White House said.

Dr. Goodman said the hospital has implemented strict infection-control measures. He said that the patient came to the hospital's emergency department with nondescript symptoms that didn't immediately suggest that he might have Ebola. The patient then left, and returned on Sunday by ambulance. This time, Dr. Goodman said, hospital staff suspected Ebola and placed him in isolation.

Dr. Goodman said the hospital is reviewing its procedures to determine why staff didn't suspect Ebola the first time. He said the patient wasn't vomiting and didn't have diarrhea during the first visit, and it doesn't appear that staff were exposed.

Many hospitals around the country prepared for possible Ebola cases after two American missionaries were infected with the disease and evacuated to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Dr. Goodman said Texas Health Presbyterian had plans in place, too, and had a meeting just last week to discuss how a patient would be cared for.

Lenard Williams, a 36-year-old oil-field worker who was treated for diabetes at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Tuesday, said he wasn't concerned about being exposed to Ebola.

"They're taking care of their business here," said Mr. Williams, who says he was more carefully screened than in previous visits. He said he also noticed more guards standing around in the corridors of the huge facility.